Joshua+Williamson

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 * Just A Little About Me **

Growing up I never thought that I would become a teacher. I thought about medical school, I dreamed about law school, I even interned with law offices. I attended Brigham Young University planning to graduate as an English Major, take the LSAT, and attend a prominent law school. All that changed the year prior to graduation when I realized that the profession I truly wished to join was the teaching profession. Though this meant adding two more years to my stay in college I knew that it was what I wanted, and that in fact it was something that I had been preparing to do for a long time.

From a very young age I began working with superintendents, assistant superintendents, teachers, school board members, students, and parents to ensure that the best education and facilities would be made available to me and other students in the community. My involvement ranged from working on bond elections, assisting in evaluating curriculum and exit questioners, speaking at board meetings, writing and meeting with state legislators, and representing the student body at city functions aimed to aligning student, city, and districts goals.

When it came time to complete my Eagle Scout project newspapers where announcing budget cuts and the elimination of elementary music programs. Because of my personal involvement in music – ranging from piano, orchestra, band, and choir – I felt that it was important that all children be afforded the opportunity to be exposed to music in their classrooms. I set out to develop a way that even teachers without musical background would be able to provide their students with music and music history in the classroom. I selected a number of popular songs that I wrote a brief history about and transposed the music to a simple number system corresponding to bells that I created in a metal shop. After furnishing each elementary school with the music and three complete sets of bells, I attended collaboration days at each site and demonstrated for the teachers how easy it would be to incorporate music into their classes using this new program. The teachers where grateful for the simple yet enjoyable music program that I had provided them with, and I was pleased that the elementary students would continue to be afforded the opportunity to have music as part of their curriculum. Still more than a decade later, both the music and bells that I provided the elementary schools are still in use.

Beyond my eagle project and involvement in the school district, my summers where filled creating lessons plans, adapting lessons, evaluating and encouraging my countless swim students to reach the high expectations that I held them to. My students ranged from infants to adults, leisure swimmers to competitive swimmers, high school dropouts to CEOs, and physically/mentally impaired to the very athletic and gifted. Because of this wide range of students, I developed different ways to communicate, adapt, and manage my classes while holding true to my high expectations. Because of my versatility in teaching, each summer I was recognized by both the community and employer for my ability to flourish in many situations others might not have.

My passion for teaching continued with me when I moved to Veracruz, Mexico where I lived for two years. During those two years, I taught English and Spanish, held special classes on both proper financial and dietary/hygiene practices, and worked with people suffering from both physical and mild/server mental disorders. In doing these things, I was afforded the opportunity to collaborate with many different people throughout Mexico and the United States.

It is because of the home that I grew up in, the importance placed on education, the district in which I attended school, and countless personal experiences that I have chosen to enter the profession of education. I seek to achieve the mission that has been set by those before me to create a global community of learners, where I can guarantee that my students flourish in life as enthusiastic, confident learns through a world-class education characterized by vigorous personalized curriculum and expectations, dedicated teaching and total community involvement.

**Fun Facts**
 * I was raised in Carlsbad, California but have lived in the state of Utah and also in the state of Veracruz, Mexico
 * I love swimming - teaching, watching, and doing
 * I enjoy to read - my guilty pleasures are spy-thriller novels
 * I enjoy camping - though I do not seem to have much time for it now
 * I am addicted to learning - and often can be found studying things that have nothing to do with my direct profession
 * I love music - almost anything but there is an empty space in my collection where country might be
 * I was married May 3, 2008 to the wonderful and beautiful Jessica Paix Arnett
 * I have two wonderful parents who live in Carlsbad, California and one younger brother who is currently living in New York City and working with the large Latino population
 * I dabble in photography - but I do not like pictures of/with people, I love landscape
 * I savor every opportunity to travel - and hope to explore the world with my wife
 * I am fascinated with art - and enjoy each opportunity I have to admire it
 * I love adventure - and slowly am convincing my wife to join me on more adventures each day